Hepatoblastomas with carcinoma features represent a biological spectrum of aggressive neoplasms in children and young adults.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatoblastoma (HB) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are the predominant liver cancers in children, though their respective treatment options and associated outcomes differ dramatically. Risk stratification using a combination of clinical, histological, and molecular parameters can improve treatment selection, but it is particularly challenging for tumors with mixed histological features, including those in the recently created hepatocellular neoplasm not otherwise specified (HCN NOS) provisional category. We aimed to perform the first molecular characterization of clinically annotated cases of HCN NOS. METHODS: We tested whether these histological features are associated with genetic alterations, cancer gene dysregulation, and outcomes. Namely, we compared the molecular features of HCN NOS, including copy number alterations, mutations, and gene expression profiles, with those in other pediatric hepatocellular neoplasms, including HBs and HCCs, as well as HBs demonstrating focal atypia or pleomorphism (HB FPAs), and HBs diagnosed in older children (>8). RESULTS: Molecular profiles of HCN NOS and HB FPAs revealed common underlying biological features that were previously observed in HCCs. Consequently, we designated these tumor types collectively as HBs with HCC features (HBCs). These tumors were associated with high mutation rates (∼3 somatic mutations/Mb) and were enriched with mutations and alterations in key cancer genes and pathways. In addition, recurrent large-scale chromosomal gains, including gains of chromosomal arms 2q (80%), 6p (70%), and 20p (70%), were observed. Overall, HBCs were associated with poor clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that histological features seen in HBCs are associated with combined molecular features of HB and HCC, that HBCs are associated with poor outcomes irrespective of patient age, and that transplanted patients are more likely to have good outcomes than those treated with chemotherapy and surgery alone. These findings highlight the importance of molecular testing and early therapeutic intervention for aggressive childhood hepatocellular neoplasms. LAY SUMMARY: We molecularly characterized a class of histologically aggressive childhood liver cancers and showed that these tumors are clinically aggressive and that their observed histological features are associated with underlying recurrent molecular features. We proposed a diagnostic algorithm to identify these cancers using a combination of histological and molecular features, and our analysis suggested that these cancers may benefit from specialized treatment strategies that may differ from treatment guidelines for other childhood liver cancers.

Transcription analysis of genes involved in lipid metabolism reveals the role of chromium in reducing body fat in animal models.

Chromium was proposed to be an essential trace element over 50 years ago and has been accepted as an essential element for over 30 years. The recent studies indicated that the addition of supra nutritional amounts of chromium to the diet can only be considered as having pharmacological effects. However, the precise mechanism through which chromium acts on lipid, carbohydrate, protein and nucleic acid metabolism are relatively poor studied. To uncover, at least partially, the role of chromium in lipid metabolism, in this study, we evaluated the expression status of eight important genes, involved in fat biosynthesis and lipid metabolism, in four different tissue types (liver, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, and longissimus muscle) in domestic goat kids feeding on three different chromium levels. The quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was established for expression analyses with HSP90 gene was used as reference gene. The results showed that supplementation of goats with 1.5mg/day chromium significantly decreases the expression of the ACC1, DGAT1, FABP4, FAS, HSL, LEP genes, but does not affect the expression of the LPL and SCD1 genes in all studied tissues. This study highlights, for the first time, the role of supra nutritional levels of chromium in lipid biosynthesis and metabolism. These findings are of especial importance for improving meat quality in domestic animals.